Encounter My Heart

Put your beliefs to the test with Encounter My Heart, a newly devised immersive theatre experience from The Leftovers Collective. Lower yourself into the murky waters of moral ambiguity and explore where you personally draw the lines of forgiveness with this punchy half-hour performance, which borrows anonymous confessions from members of the Sydney public.

“All of us make mistakes in our own lives, and that’s the reason why we’ve chosen confessions from the Sydney public,” explained The Leftovers’ Artistic Director, Mr Curly Fries. “They’re not all necessarily these confessions that break the law – some of them might be misdemeanours between social friends, some of them might be of a sexual nature, some of them might be things that are done behind closed doors by yourself. We’re looking at things that aren’t just black and white in the law.”

The performance takes place in a mock “courtroom” in the downstairs bar at the Two Wolves Community Cantina on Broadway, the audience becoming the “jury” and deciding the fate of the “prisoner” after hearing the arguments of the “defence lawyer” and “prosecutor”.

To uphold intimacy, a strict cut off ten audience members only per show is allowed to each performance, of which there will be four a night (with a new prisoner/case trialled each time). The Leftovers’ are tight-lipped on how the verdict, as decided by the “jury”, will play out – but without giving too much away, you are advised to layer up your wardrobe and/or don your wet weather gear.

With the season starting in the lead-up to the two-year anniversary of the notorious execution of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, this work is inspired by the case and the loaded conversations that still surround it without imposing a “moral slant”.

This is a highly engaging production from a crop of noteworthy young names in stage and screen, and is the group’s first full season (rather than a one-off performance) since gaining the support of Bell Shakespeare and Bakehouse Theatre. (AM)